This invention relates to automobile electrical circuit assemblies, and more particularly to an automobile circuit assembly having substantially flat and rectangular segments which may be selectively connected to cooperatively form a desired circuit assembly.
Circuit assemblies are used within automobiles to selectively connect the various electrical components and/or modules of the automobile with a source of electrical power and/or with relays, fuses, and other types of electrical devices or signals. Typically these circuit assemblies are formed and created by the use of several relatively bulky wire harnesses which are typically and manually installed within and which traverse through the automobile, such as along the xe2x80x9ccross car beamxe2x80x9d within the instrument panel. Each of the harnesses typically contain a bundle of insulated wires which are wrapped in tape, foam, or other types of protective cover materials and which are selectively spliced, crimped, and/or connected to various other wires within the same harness or to various wires contained within the other harnesses. The harness wires are selectively connected to the various automobile components and/or modules by the use of separate xe2x80x9cpigtailxe2x80x9d type wire connector assemblies which typically and orthogonally project from each of the harnesses and which provide a connecting xe2x80x9cbridgexe2x80x9d between the harness and the selected components. These harnesses suffer from various drawbacks.
Particularly, these harnesses require a relatively large amount of installatation time and effort, thereby increasing the overall cost of producing an automobile. The relatively bulky harnesses require a relatively large amount of space, thereby undesirably prohibiting an enlargement of some of the automotive components, such as the air conditioning vents. The required wire splicing and xe2x80x9cpigtailxe2x80x9d assemblies reduce the overall integrity of the circuit assembly making it prone to failure and malfunction. Moreover, the detection, isolation, and correction of associated circuitry faults is difficult due to the rather bulky arrangement of the insulated wires within the harness and due to the use of complicated splicing and xe2x80x9cpigtailxe2x80x9d type connections. Further, each of these harnesses is typically configured for a unique type or model of automobile. Hence, new harness designs are required for substantially every new automobile model and for every change made to an existing model, thereby reducing the overall cost of automobile production.
There is therefore a need for an automotive circuit assembly which is relatively easy to install within an automobile; which is relatively compact; which allows circuits to be relatively easily and efficiently formed; which allows the formed circuits to be relatively easily and directly connected to a component; which allows circuit faults and malfunctions to be relatively easily identified and corrected; and which may be used by a wide variety of automobiles. Applicant""s invention addresses these and other needs.
It is a first object of the invention to provide an automotive circuit assembly which overcomes the various previously delineated drawbacks of prior automotive circuit assemblies.
It is a second object of the invention to provide an automotive circuit assembly which allows circuits to be relatively easily and selectively created and installed within an automobile, and which may be selectively and directly connected to an automotive component and/or module.
It is a third object of the invention to provide a circuit assembly having a portion which allows for the relatively efficient detection, isolation, and correction of circuit and/or conductor faults.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, an automotive electrical circuit assembly is provided. The assembly includes a plurality of substantially rectangular and flat circuit segments, each of the circuit segments having a plurality of conductive busses operatively positioned between a dielectric substrate and a protective cover and being adapted to be selectively interconnected to cooperatively form an electrical circuit assembly.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for creating automobile circuits is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a plurality of rectangular flat circuit segments, each of the circuit segments including a dielectric substrate containing a plurality of electrically conductive busses and a transparent protective membrane which overlays the electrically conductive busses; selecting at least a first and a second of the rectangular circuit segments; removing at least a portion of the protective membrane of a first of the rectangular segments to expose a first portion of one of the electrically conductive busses of the first rectangular segment; removing at least a portion of the membrane of a second of the rectangular segments to expose at least one of the electrically conductive busses of the second rectangular segment; orthoganally coupling the at least one of the electrically conductive busses of the first rectangular segment to the at least one of the electrically conductive busses of the second rectangular segment, thereby creating an electrical circuit.